---
title: The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the cha… — The Aesop for Children · tree and pragmatics
description: The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety. Who acts: trunk, only. A sentence of «The Aesop for Children» by Aesop, The Two Goats, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Aesop for Children, The Two Goats, sentence 2

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The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety.

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**Who acts:** trunk, only · **What happens:** fall, form, mean, cross, pass · **To what, where:** chasm, each, safety

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This is a sentence of «The Aesop for Children» by Aesop, The Two Goats. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (trunk, only), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg19994:37:2
# text = The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	trunk	trunk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	formed	form	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	nsubj	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
11	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	crossing	cross	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	chasm	chasm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
18	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	22	nsubj	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
20	even	even	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
21	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	22	nummod	_	_
22	squirrels	squirrel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obl	_	_
23	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	aux	_	_
25	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	conj	_	_
26	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	25	obj	_	_
27	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	fixed	_	_
28	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	safety	safety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **form** | past | the trunk of a fallen tree |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** | present | the only |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **cross** | gerund | the only *not said here* | the chasm |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chasm=Patient |
| 5 | **pass** | could · perfect | the trunk of a fallen tree *not said here* | each |  | safety |  | on two squirrels | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent each=Theme on squirrel=Destination |

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One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «The Aesop for Children» by Aesop, Project Gutenberg book 19994 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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